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Listen Up, Muscles

Listen Up, Muscles: How to Get in Tune with Your Body (Without a Translator or a Trip to Urgent Care)

September 4, 2025 – Frank Bills, PhD, CPT

Your body isn’t some high-maintenance diva nitpicking over minor details and being overly critical. —it’s more like a reliable coworker who only speaks up when something’s really off. The trouble is, most of us treat it like that colleague whose emails we skim until ticks us off. But especially after 50, it’s a life skill—maybe even a superpower—to read those signals your body is sending you. It can mean the difference between feeling energized and strong or waking up feeling like someone stuffed your joints with gravel.

Okay, so now let’s discuss signs, nonsense advice we should ditch, as well as finding a balance between beast mode and nap mode.

Myth: “No Pain, No Gain”

Oh, yeah? That ultimate gym-class war cry. It’s cool-sounding, but it’s about as effective as saying to someone with a sprained ankle, “Walk it off.” Pain is not a badge of honor; it is a red siren warning for your body.

Let’s be crystal clear: it’s okay if you’re a tiny bit uncomfortable. Your muscles should ache a wee bit if you had an absolute killer workout—that means you made gains. But hurts? That sharp stabbiness, or burning in a nasty way, or rubbery-wobbly-waddle-when-you-walk. That’s not your body asking you for another set; that’s your body saying, “Please, for the love of all things holy, stop!”

After 50, especially, it’s not a matter of wearing you down—it’s a matter of building you up without taking you apart in the process.

So, How Do You Know When To Push And When To Rest?

Take it apart as though you were a trainer who loves joints.

1. Energy Check-In

You rise up feeling like a human fog machine, trudging around all day with all the excitement of a sloth on NyQuil? Then it may not be HIIT day. But if you’re bouncing around with enthusiasm, and above all, joints aren’t knocking around like haunted house doors? That is green light territory.

Pro Tip: When morning coffee is not quite enough and you still feel like wet cement in the a.m., today might be a rest day—or at least a stretching-and-walk day.

2. Muscle Soreness: The 48 Hour Rule

Another big signal? Soreness—and how long it lasts. Mild soreness is okay. But if you’re still wobble-waddling around for two days post leg day like you just got off a horse at the end of a cross-country ride, your muscles need a longer healing period. Give them a break before you head in for round two.

Just consider: Would you build on a cracked foundation? No. So don’t stack workouts onto muscles that haven’t finished repairing.

Your mood can be an excellent gauge. If the idea of working out feels like a root canal, ask yourself: Is this just mental resistance—or is your body sincerely saying, ‘please, not today?’ A couple of minutes of warm-up tends to tell which it is. Should you come around once you are up and at ’em, great. Should you still feel like crap 10 minutes in, call it a day and take the puppy for a walk.

Rest Isn't Quitting — it's Training Smarter.

Resting is not something you are doing instead of training. Rest is training. That’s when the alchemy happens—at a cellular level, your muscles repair themselves; joints regenerate; your central nervous system gets a hard reboot. And let’s not act like you’re going to be able to flex your biceps in a cool way if you are out with a torn rotator cuff because you disregarded your body’s polite “No, thank you.”

Indications That You're Due for Intensification Training

You slept fairly well (we’re scoring generously here).
You are not unusually sore.
Your energy is steady instead of crashing at 10 a.m.
You are prepared psychologically for it—not afraid of movement.
Your warm-up feels good?

When it all falls into place, working out feels natural. No need to try training like you’re still 25, but you can definitely train smarter than many 25-year-olds.

Final Thoughts: Be Your Own Fitness Whisperer

Your body is not plotting against you. It’s not lazy. It’s not weak. It has gained some experience in life and would rather not be beaten up in the name of “toughness.” There is a vast disparity between challenging yourself and tormenting yourself. Get to know the signs. Honor the signs. Chuckle a bit when your hamstrings revolt. And consider this: Getting strong at 50 is not only possible—it’s a forceful act.

And so are naps in recovery. Craving motivation? What you really need is a rhythm—one that alternates effort with rest, so exercise doesn’t feel like a second job or punishment.

Post a comment—I’d enjoy assisting you in outsmarting your inner drill sergeant.

Wellness

Listen Up, Muscles